Editing Atlantic Wall (section)

===Organisation Todt===
[[File:The British Army in North-west Europe 1944-45 B10467.jpg|thumb|left|A British soldier poses next to the recently captured German 380&nbsp;mm gun Todt Battery at Cap Gris Nez.|alt=|226x226px]]

[[Organisation Todt]] (OT), formed in 1933, had designed the [[Siegfried Line]] during the prewar years along the [[Franco-German border]]. OT was the chief engineering group responsible for the design and construction of the wall's major gun emplacements and fortifications.{{sfn|Hakim|1995|p=161}}{{sfn|The Great Landings|2009}}

The OT supplied supervisors and labour as well as organising supplies, machinery and transport to supplement the staff and equipment of construction companies. Many of them were German, however construction companies in occupied countries bid for contracts. Companies could apply for OT work or could be conscripted.<ref name=HOT1/>{{rp|53}} Companies failing to complete their work on time, which was always possible as the OT controlled the material and manpower of each firm, could find themselves closed down, or more likely fined, or taken over or merged with another firm to make a more efficient larger unit. Successful firms however could make attractive profits.<ref name=HOT1/>{{rp|53–4}}

The OT obtained quotes for necessary works and signed contracts with each construction company setting out the price and terms of the contract, such as bonus payments for efficiency, including the wage rates and bonus payments for OT workers (which depended on their nationality and skill). There could be several construction companies working on each site.<ref name="HOT1">{{cite book |title=Handbook of the Organisation Todt - part 1 |publisher=Military Intelligence Records Section, London Branch |date=May 1945}}</ref>

Labour comprised skilled volunteers, engineers, designers and supervisors, who were paid and treated well.  Second came volunteer workers, often skilled technicians, such as carpenters, plumbers, electricians and metal workers.  Again, these workers were paid, took holidays and were well treated. Next came unskilled forced labour, paid very little and treated quite harshly.  Lastly came effective slave labour, paid little, badly fed and treated very harshly.<ref name=HOT1/>{{rp|75}} The OT ran training courses to improve labour skills.<ref name=HOT1/>{{rp|18}}

Massive numbers of workers were needed.  The [[Vichy France|Vichy regime]] imposed a compulsory labour system, drafting some 600,000 French workers to construct these permanent fortifications along the Dutch, Belgian, and French coasts facing the [[English Channel]].{{sfn|The Great Landings|2009}} Efficiency of the OT decreased in late 1943 and 1944 as a result of manpower pressures, fuel shortages and the bombing of worksites, such as [[V-weapons]] sites, where some volunteer workers refused to work in such dangerous areas.<ref name=HOT1/>{{rp|50}}

OT Cherbourg in January 1944 dealt with 34 companies with 15,000 workers and 79 sub contractors. Daily, weekly and monthly reports showing progress, work variations, material used, stocks of material, labour hours used per skill type, the weather, equipment inventory and quality, level of supervision, employee absences, staffing levels, deaths and problems experienced all had to be filed with the OT.<ref name=HOT1/>{{rp|57}}